Love When You Cry
by Daft Crescendoll
Summary: Sango was killed by Naraku two years earlier leaving Miroku alone in the world. Can their newest companion, a young miko named Sora, cheer him up and possibly earn his heart in place of his beloved lost Sango? ONE SHOT!


**Authors Note: I wrote this a long time ago so its pretty raw...if you see anything wrong with it or something I should change then let me know and I may change it. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the InuYasha characters :unfortunately:**

"Miroku-sama, are you ok?" I asked slowly as I approached the seated houshi. He'd been a complete mess ever since Sango had died. At first he had wanted revenge, but now he was feeling something else. He hardly spoke a word and he went off by himself a lot. He looked so forlorn and alone now. I couldn't stand it! I had to try to help him…somehow.

"I'm fine Sora-sama. You don't have to worry." He was so quiet I could hardly hear his reply. I placed a hand on his slumped shoulder and sat down next to him.

"But I do! I'm your friend Miroku, it's my job to worry about you and to make sure that you're alright." I said comfortingly. He looked up slightly and smiled. He then proceeded to take the small band that held up his tiny pony tail into his hand and presented it to me. I looked up at him astonished! Miroku looked so different with his hair down that I wondered whether or not he had just been replaced with someone else. His black tresses reached down and tickled his jaw line and I marveled at his beautiful face and how his hair seemed to change its shape slightly. I looked back into his palm and took the tiny ribbon. I looked back with a question in my eyes.

"I want you to have it. I want to start over as a new person and I want you to have this." He said still smiling. I looked at this new person in front of me. He seemed to radiate peace.

"Miroku…I…I don't know what to say. Why do you want to give this to me? You hardly know me!" I said incredulously. That of course was not entirely true. I had known Miroku for two years, ever since his Sango had died. He had taken it very harshly and I could understand his want of vengeance for Naraku, but his moping was a recent development. I was separated from my thoughts as he took my hand into his and stroked it.

"My dear, dear Sora. You are nothing like my Sango in spirit but, that's why I'm drawn to you. I seem to know you Sora. I want you to remember me always even if you don't feel the same."

"What do you mean? Feel the same about what?" I whispered. He smiled again and placed my hand on his cheek and ran my fingers through his hair. It was smooth and silky. His beautiful deep gray eyes were halfway closed as he gazed into my dark hazel orbs. He then took his thumb and graced my cheekbones with his touch. His hands we're surprisingly smooth and gentle. I leaned my head into his touch and closed my eyes. I felt his forehead on mine and we lingered there in each other's company.

"Miroku?" I asked slowly without opening my eyes.

"Yes, Sora-Chan?" he asked affectionately. The use of that endearment startled me slightly but I didn't say anything.

"What _did_ you mean when you asked if I felt the same?" he opened his eyes and rested his gaze on me. I knew then that I didn't need him to answer my question. His eyes told me how he felt. There was love in his gaze. It seemed to radiate from him so much so that I could almost sense it burning my skin.

"Sora-Chan." His gaze pierced through my heart and I felt his mind overpowering me. "I do not want you to think that you are merely a replacement for my dead Sango. What I feel for you is completely different from what I felt for her. Yes I loved her, and I love you, but these are two very different kinds of love." He said slowly as he looked away. My head sagged.

"I see." He didn't love me as a lover, but as a friend. A very dear friend perhaps, but nothing more. I found this information very painful. More painful than I had expected it to be. I guess I had just gotten my hopes up only to have them crash back down even lower than before. I was dragged from my thoughts once again as he lifted my chin so that he could see my eyes, now shining with unshed tears.

"Sora-Chan? What is it?" his concern lifted my spirits a little, but they sagged again as I looked into his eyes. I had been so sure of his love for me. I could see it, so why didn't I get to feel it?

"I…it's nothing Houshi-sama. Don't worry about me." I said quietly. I let my head drop again, but he lifted it back up. His eyes were half lids as he began to draw my face closer to his. My eyes widened at his actions as my voice deserted me.

"But I must worry about you. You are my koishii. It is now my duty to protect you for as long as I live." My head began to spin at his words. 'His koishii?' my mind thought numbly. I barely noticed our proximity until the realization that we we're mere inches apart finally entered my ethereal thoughts. Before he closed the distance, his eyes looked askance at me as if to say, 'May I?' I gave him a small nod and closed my eyes awaiting his touch.

His lips were smooth and gentle as he moved them over my own. It was so slight an act, and so innocent that one wondered how it could be filled with so much love and passion. When we parted, the tears began to flow. I couldn't help it. I was so overwhelmed by his profession of his love for me that tears of joy ran down my heated cheeks. I was hardly aware of them until I began to taste them. I regretted them at once though, when I saw the look on my houshi-kun's face.

"Sora-Chan!? What's the matter? Why are you crying?" I couldn't answer him, but I didn't have to. He pulled me close to his chest and held me. I leaned into him and forgot all of my worries.

"Houshi-kun?" I asked slowly. I wanted to tell him I loved him too. I wanted him to know that I would always be there to protect him as well, that I would always be his.

"Yes koishii?" he asked soothingly. He didn't release me from his embrace. I looked up to his face and touched his cheek so he would look at me. When his eyes met mine, I couldn't help but notice how afraid he looked, as if perhaps he feared I would reject his love. How silly my houshi-kun could be!

"I…I love you." I said slowly. I sighed inwardly as relief flooded his deep eyes. "And I want to be there for you as well. To protect you for as long as I live. You are my koi." He smiled at me and I smiled back. He embraced me again and held onto me like he would never let go.

"After we kill Naraku, will you come to live with me and bear my children?" he asked in a slightly nervous voice. My head reeled at his proposal and I felt the tears coming again. They stung my eyes and burned my dry throat, but I was ecstatic nonetheless.

"Oh, Miroku-kun!!! Yes!!! Of course I will!!!" I said and wrapped my arms tightly around his neck in an embrace. He nuzzled his nose in my red-brown locks at the nape of my neck, and I was surprised to feel hot, wet tears on my shoulder. I released him to look into his face to see that he was indeed crying.

"Koishii, what's wrong?" I asked slowly. He just smiled at me. I could tell then that his tears were happy ones like mine. He shook his head and embraced me again.

I heard a small stifled giggle coming from a bush not far from where Miroku and I sat, followed by a slightly dejected grunt. I knew immediately that InuYasha and Kagome had been watching us and that Kagome was probably cheering. It didn't bother me like it should have. I guess I was too overly ecstatic to care at the moment. So I giggled silently.

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**Thanks for reading. **


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